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A Marvel Fanboy

China Box Office Thread | Deadpool & Wolverine- July 26

By A Marvel Fanboy, in China At The Box Office

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FrozenUnicorn Box Office Gold

FrozenUnicorn

Posted
Posted

A year ago no one would have expected Frozen to perform better than HTTYD2, but today no one expects HTTYD2 to make even half of what Frozen made.

 

I think HTTYD2 should have done better domestically. I don't know what went wrong. Everyone who saw it liked it.

 

 

Well said. The lack of sufficient comedy definitely has affected HTTYD2.

 

Speaking as one person who didn't like it, I feel like part of the reason was not only the lack of comedy, but the lack of a good relationship between Hiccup and Toothless (and Astrid) and more focus on the side characters (who were either underdeveloped, annoying, or both), plus the death felt kind of like an unnecessary cop-out, and the action may also have played a part of it for some (though I did like the action sequences).  It also doesn't have much rewatchability, unlike, for instance, the first two Shrek films, or HTTYD1, or most Disney and Pixar films.  It seems more like one of those films that's like, "It was great when I saw it, but I don't think I'll see it again"—and that point goes for the other markets as well, such as doing well on the first week and then quickly dropping over time.

 

I feel like there are many valid reasons why it underperformed in the U.S., and tapered off in other countries were it did do well.  It just didn't have that appeal.

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Olive Global Phenomenon

Olive

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Posted

Biggest Animated movie OPENING DAYS

 

update 8.15.2014

 

1. Kung Fu Panda II - 67M(OD)  617M(total)

2.Ice Age 4 - 35M  450M

3.How to Train Your Dragon II - 34.9M  360-420M(projected)

4.Boonie Bears - 32.4M  247M

5.Despicable Me II - 24M  320M

6.Monsters Uni. - 22.8M  210M

7.The Croods - 22M  395M

 

*IA4 opened on a Friday, its 3-day OW was 130M yuan, and end up with a total of 450M.

It had a great Multiplier.

*Dragon 2 is on track to open around 150M yuan, 2.4-2.8x multiplier from its 4-day opening is the likely total.

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TServo2049 Box Office Gold

TServo2049

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As someone who liked HTTYD2, I still think you made valid points. There is also the argument that (in the U.S. at least) the TV show diluted the brand and made the movie less of an event. I'd buy that, some families could have elected to wait for Redbox or Netflix because the TV show is free and they didn't want to fork over $50 in tickets+concessions to see a "2-hour episode"? This was brought up a lot in the early days of release, but someone brought it up again in the Godzilla thread in the context of Godzilla 2 having a 4-year gap. Someone said 4 years was enough time for people to "forget" something as supposedly beloved as HTTYD. Why would they remember Godzilla which didn't go over nearly as well? Then someone else brought up the TV show to say that "the 4-year gap wasn't what hurt HTTYD2 most."People were discussing what went wrong in those early days, in multiple places, but no consensus answer was ever reached. It's probably going to be like "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop" - the world may never know.

Edited by TServo2049
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BK007 Box Office Gold

BK007

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It WAS the strongest point. Just like what we got of Woody/Buzz together (particularly the scene in Al's office where Buzz is trying to get Woody to come back home) was some of the strongest stuff in TS2.I just wonder if the film would have done BETTER if it had been MORE about Hiccup and Toothless. The family stuff was great, but my audiences were often dead silent during that stuff. The serious dragon-war stuff seems to have been a bit too intense for some kids - and even I detect a bit of muddle in that stuff. (It could have been a turn-off in the domestic market, where comedy and "heart" drive animated successes, and action-centric ones have a history of underperformance unless they deliver something more.)And THAT SCENE would have probably benefited from a clearer reconciliation denouement between Hiccup and Toothless at the end.

Hiccup yells at Toothless out of grief and anger, his mom says "It wasn't his fault", and Hiccup repeats it once when he's trying to bring Toothless back. And only in a general sense - not specifically "You didn't kill Dad. You wouldn't do that, Drago made you do it."

Something has hampered its performances overseas. Even with the World Cup sucking off Latin American sales, even with TF4 and Apes kneecapping it, no matter when/how well it has opened, no matter what's against it in weekend two (sometimes NOTHING), in almost every market it dropped O/U 50% from OW. Something is common - not sure if it's mixed WOM from people who saw it, or kids not wanting to see it a second time.It's confusing to me. One of the biggest HTTYD Tumblr fangirls was visiting relatives in Spain and saw it on its opening week, it was full of kids, they cried, her...cousin's?...son cried the worst his mom had seen him do at a movie, but after it was over he was talking about how he couldn't wait to see HTTYD3. But I wonder if that kid, or other kids like him, were actually eager to see it again so soon after. In Spain, it dropped 60% - admittedly, against TF4, but it still dropped hard.I enjoyed the movie, make no mistake, but perhaps it needed a bit more story/script polish? I sometimes mull over whether the film would have been stronger if Chris Sanders had co-written and co-directed again, he was just as important to the first film as Dean DeBlois was (and Lilo and Stitch was also a collaborative effort between the two). I WISH he could come back for HTTYD3, but he's doing Croods 2.I hope Dean and Bonnie Arnold and co. learn from whatever contributed to HTTYD2's underperformance, and use that knowledge in the making of HTTYD3. The only thing I somewhat worry about is if Katzenberg or others at DWA will be pushing for the next film to be more juvenile in reaction - sort of like how when George Lucas took a more active role in Return of the Jedi, he watered down the mature stuff that Lawrence Kasdan, Irvin Kershner and Gary Kurtz had brought to The Empire Strikes Back. I know that Katzenberg and Bill Damaschke were two of the biggest supporters of both HTTYD1 and HTTYD2, but I still feel a little nervous is all.That's part of why I wanted a breakout market. Maybe if it breaks out in China, that could provide some reassurance that the direction they're taking will pay off SOMEWHERE?

 

 

I don't think we should find faults where there are none. I mean, to be honest with you, I only really like A New Hope. Yeah, they are held in high regard, but honestly, given more and more time, they too will be forgotten (ROTJ especially). The prequels are shit to high heavens and popular but generations from now, no one will care. 

 

I'm not sure what people's mindset was in why they didn't see it. Perhaps there could have been a lot of "Number two? But I didn't watch number one anyway" after all it's not like Dragon had that many people see it. I think it will retain almost all of its audience which is an impressive feat for an animated product. Unlike Toy Story, Shrek and Despicable Me, Dragon's admissions are nowhere near. Notice how none of the animated films that have sequels that didn't make $250m+ increased. So you could argue a certain segment of, it wasn't popular/wide enough for people to come back again. Maybe if it played like an original movie they would have given it another chance or a chance. 

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TServo2049 Box Office Gold

TServo2049

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Posted (edited)

Exactly what I said about how there doesn't seem to be one reason.Movie too intense/dark/sad/scary/serious?Important character relationships from the first not given as much prominence?Uncompelling domestic marketing campaign?Hurt by the TV show?3D inflated the first film's numbers, and the decline of 3D in the next 4 years deflated the second?Public perception of DreamWorks hurt by several consecutive BO duds?Weak domestic market in general?World Cup in Latin America?TF4 (and to a lesser degree, Apes 2) opening so close to it in many OS markets?All of the above?We'll never know. i just hope it does well in China.

Edited by TServo2049
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efialtes76 Summer Tentpole

efialtes76

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Posted (edited)

Exactly what I said about how there doesn't seem to be one reason.Movie too intense/dark/sad/scary/serious?Important character relationships from the first not given as much prominence?Uncompelling domestic marketing campaign?Hurt by the TV show?3D inflated the first film's numbers, and the decline of 3D in the next 4 years deflated the second?Public perception of DreamWorks hurt by several consecutive BO duds?Weak domestic market in general?World Cup in Latin America?TF4 (and to a lesser degree, Apes 2) opening so close to it in many OS markets?All of the above?We'll never know. i just hope it does well in China.

HTTYD2 is doing very well in Latin America!

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TServo2049 Box Office Gold

TServo2049

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Yes, but it feels like the World Cup hurt it to some degree in its earlier - and more important - LA markets (Brazil, Argentina, and especially Mexico). Brazil's gross is good, but being the host country for the WC damaged it (though maybe that was counterbalanced by having an open market? If its 58% drop was indicative of general OS frontloadedness rather than specifically taking a hit from the WC, then it was certainly helped by the holds in the following weeks due to no new competition.)Argentina could be better, and Mexico isn't going to cross US $20M.

Edited by TServo2049
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BK007 Box Office Gold

BK007

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Posted

Exactly what I said about how there doesn't seem to be one reason.Movie too intense/dark/sad/scary/serious?Important character relationships from the first not given as much prominence?Uncompelling domestic marketing campaign?Hurt by the TV show?3D inflated the first film's numbers, and the decline of 3D in the next 4 years deflated the second?Public perception of DreamWorks hurt by several consecutive BO duds?Weak domestic market in general?World Cup in Latin America?TF4 (and to a lesser degree, Apes 2) opening so close to it in many OS markets?All of the above?We'll never know. i just hope it does well in China.

 

Yeah, I hope it does to give it a nice respectable total. 

 

If the finale has to pander, and I hope it doesn't, the only thing I wouldn't mind would be seeing dragons inspired by various cultures like the Chinese and the Japanese, or dragons with Middle Eastern/Pacific Islands/African influences. Loads of inspiration actually. 

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chimpo Indie Sensation

chimpo

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Friday est.

1.How to Train Your Dragon 2 33M/$5.3M,Total:67.8/$11M(2 days)

 

 

 

 So with actuals this could stay flat with thursday numbers. Fantastic.

 

I wonder if it's possible for HTTYD2 to reach 50M on Saturday and 43M on Sunday.

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